


School Days

by Topographical_Map_Of_Utah



Series: Along Came Baby [12]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: But The Kind That Actually Happens, Dealing With All The Transphobia, Finn Takes Bake Sales Seriously, M/M, Mpreg, Trans!Poe Dameron, You'd Think There Was No Drama In Pre-School, a little angsty, domestic AU, you'd be wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-18 22:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8178721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topographical_Map_Of_Utah/pseuds/Topographical_Map_Of_Utah
Summary: If you thought that taking care of a kid while juggling full time jobs wasn't hectic enough, now Shara's in preschool, Poe's very pregnant, and Finn's trying to organise the bake sale. What could go wrong?





	

Finn poked his head into Shara's bedroom and grinned, seeing what the kid was up to. Their three-year-old was sitting on her bedroom floor, singing a nonsense song as she poured imaginary tea for the Spiderman action figure she had dressed in a Barbie skirt. She had watched Alice in Wonderland, and now she had an obsession with tea parties. Today the guests were an Ewok wearing a bowtie, a plastic T-Rex, and a big orange and white teddy bear that Shara had christened Bumblebee, or Bee for short. 

 "Hi, Daddy." Shara said when she saw Finn standing in the doorway. "You gotta go now."   

"What?" 

"You weren't invited to the tea party. Do you wanna get invited?" she offered generously. "You gotta say: Can I please come to your tea party?" 

"Okay. Can I please come to your tea party?" Finn asked politely. Shara screwed up her face and shook her head, making the stars on her tiara bounce. "What? How come?"

"You're not pretty enough."

"I'm not..." Shara shushed him and scrambled to her feet, back to singing nonsense. After digging around in her toy box for a minute she pulled out a styrofoam tiara and a pair of fairy wings. She thrust those into Finn's hands and grinned. 

"Wear these." she instructed. He did, but she just crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "No. You're still not pretty enough."

"Then what d'you suggest we do?" Finn laughed. Shara held up two bottles of nail polish and smiled hopefully at him, squealing in delight when Finn sat down and offered her his hand. Well, parenting was all about sacrifices.

Half an hour later Poe walked by with a load of laundry under his arm and an ice cream sandwich in his mouth. Finn decided to ignore the fact that the sandwich had been dipped in ranch. Pregnancy cravings were something he had learnt not to question a long time ago.  

"How's the tea party?" Poe asked.

"I painted Daddy's nails!" Shara announced, holding up Finn's hand and showcasing his orange and turquoise paint job.

"You're welcome to join." Finn offered. Poe glanced at the sparkly fairy wings on Finn's back and shook his head, smirking a little bit.

"Nah, I'm good. Nice nails, though." he deadpanned on his way down the hall. Finn grinned and pulled off his crown, securing it on Bee's head and leaning over to give Shara a kiss. 

"Bedtime's in ten minutes, baby-girl. Clean up your toys and then I'll help you get into your pj's, alright? I'm just gonna go help your Papá for a minute. When's the next tea party?" he asked.

"Tuesday. You're gonna come, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Finn promised, hopping to his feet. He found Poe in the hall, wincing as he tried to pile towels in the linen closet. Finn gave him a hand and Poe grinned, resting back against Finn's chest with a soft huff.

"Those colours look good on you." he commented, nodding at Finn's fingertips.

"Yeah? Shara did a pretty good job." Finn laughed, wrapping his arms around Poe's chest and giving him a squeeze. But he pulled away when Poe tapped out. "Oh, sorry. Chest hurts?" Poe nodded sheepishly and Finn worked his warm hands up under his shirt, pressing with the barest bit of pressure. "This help?"

Poe gave a noncommittal grunt, making a half-hearted attempt to wriggle away. "I guess, but let go, would you? I'm sweaty and gross and fat and why are you still hugging me..." he griped, squirming in Finn's hold. 

"Aw, c'mon, don't be so hard on yourself. Else the kid's gonna come out with a grudge." Finn teased as he peppered Poe's neck with kisses, pausing to suck at the stubbly juncture under his ear. That shut him up pretty quickly. "Hey, I was just thinking, should we tell her?"

"Tell who what?" Poe sighed, relaxing a bit as Finn smoothed his fingers over the swollen skin, rubbing in soothing little circles.

"Should we tell Shara about the baby?" Finn reiterated.

"Why should we? She'll find out in four months." Poe pointed out, absently tapping the sides of his belly. Finn watched for awhile and a smirk tugged at his lips.

"Are those the chords to Take On Me?"

"Maybe?" Poe admitted. Finn rolled his eyes and kissed Poe on the cheek. "We should tell her, huh?"

"What a great idea. Let's go do that now." Finn laughed.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" Poe sighed. All of a sudden Shara ran out of her room in nothing but her undies and grabbed hold of Poe's leg with a squeal. He shook her a bit but she held fast, giggling when Finn pried her off and handed her to Poe. Laughing, he ruffled her hair and tried to peel a sticker off of her shoulder. "Hey, kiddo, put some clothes on, would you? Where're your pyjamas?"

"I dunno. Are you gonna tuck me in?" Anticipating that the answer would be yes she hopped down and started to drag them towards her bedroom. They both followed, mostly because they'd feel like assholes if they didn't.

"'Course, kiddo. And then we've got something really exciting to tell you. But first you have to put some clothes on, alright? Dad can help you out." Poe decided, flopping down onto Shara's bed and leaning back against the wall. Finn rolled his eyes, digging through Shara's dresser drawers while she danced around his legs. 

"Didya get me a lizard like I wanted?" she asked as Finn pulled a nightgown over her head.

"No, kiddo, no lizards. Something else, though. In a few months, we're gonna have a baby." Poe told her as she and Finn sat down beside him. Shara grinned, but she seemed otherwise unfazed by the announcement.

"Oh, okay. Can I play with it now?" she asked, clambering into Poe's lap.

"Not right now. The baby's in your Papá's tummy right now." Finn explained. 

 "Really?" Curious, Shara turned around and poked at the growing bulge in Poe's midsection. "How did it get in Papá's tummy?" she asked, turning to Poe for further explanation. It looked like the responsibility of giving an awkward life talk had fallen to him. Poe had a feeling that would continue to be the case for a long time.

"Well, um..." he shrugged and sighed, not wanting to butcher it. "Well, kiddo, when two people love each other in a special way, sometimes they decide that they want to have kids. If they can, they might decide to do it themselves." 

"How?" she asked, eyes wide with interest.

"Some people have a special sac in their tummy called a womb. Most of the time girls have a womb, but some boys, like me, have one too." 

"What does a womb do?" Shara wondered.

"It's a bit like an oven. Daddy has a seed and Papá has an egg. Daddy put his seed in my egg and now the baby's baking." That was a pretty satisfactory explanation, Poe thought. He hadn't factored in Shara's three-year-old imagination, though.

"You're baking a baby? Can you make brownies next?" she asked excitedly. "And then cookies and cake and-"

"What? Hold your horses kiddo, I'm not an actual oven..." Poe protested.

"You said you were."

"That was an analogy." Poe tried to explain.

"What's a nanalogy?" Shara asked.

"We're getting off topic, guys." Finn interjected. "We're talking about the baby, remember? Focus."

"Is that how you got me?" Shara asked. Poe nodded and she screwed up her face. "I don't remember being in Papá's tummy. Were you in Papá too?" she asked Finn. 

"Well, technically he was..." Poe started. Finn shushed him and Poe bit his tongue, holding back a laugh. "Sort of. But for a different reason than the baby."

"That why your tummy's real big? I thought you were turning into Santa Claus. I thought I was gonna get a pet reindeer." Shara said glumly. Then she perked up and smiled at Finn. "Is it gonna live in the toy box?"

"What?" 

"I just was thinking that maybe the baby's gonna live in the toy box so I can play tea party and space aliens and dinosaur princesses with it." she explained.

"The baby's not going to live in the toy box." Poe laughed, kissing the top of Shara's head while Finn cracked up beside him.

"So who are you gonna give it to? Is it for Abuelo? 'Cause he's only got a doggy and he's sad being by himself?" 

When Finn wouldn't stop laughing Poe punched his arm and continued as best he could. "No, kiddo, the baby's for us. They're going to live in the extra room. You're gonna have a little brother or a little sister. Isn't that exciting?"

"I guess. What do I do with it? Does it come with instructions?"

"The baby's not a toy, Shara. It's another kid, like you." Finn managed, still snickering a little bit.

"But you already have me. Are you getting rid of me? Is it gonna take my job?" she fretted, looking up at her parents with big puppy-dog eyes.

"No, of course not. We're having another kid so you don't have to be lonely. You can play with them, talk to them, build forts with them. You like building forts, right?" Poe asked.

"Yeah." she admitted, mollified. She gave the baby bump a forgiving pat and grinned. "How do we know when the baby's all ready?"

"Yeah, how do we know, Finn?" Poe asked, handing over the reigns. Finn rolled his eyes and sighed, figuring out his words.

"Well, the baby has to grow a little bit more, because right now it's too tiny to do much of anything." he began, rubbing Poe's side. "So Papá's tummy's gonna get really big, and-"

"Really big?" Shara interjected.

"Really big." Finn confirmed. "But sooner or later the baby's going to decide it's too cramped in there."

"Why?" 

"I dunno. I guess being inside somebody's tummy is pretty boring. Anyways, when that happens the baby's gonna start to make a big fuss and Papá's gonna have to push it out."

"Don't remind me." Poe whispered in Finn's ear.

"And then the baby can play with me?" Shara asked. Man, she really had her priorities straightened out.

"Yes, Shara. And then the baby can play with you."

"Okay. But I don't wanna wait that long. And the baby wants to play right now. right, baby?" she asked, pressing her cheek to Poe's belly. After listening for a few seconds she pulled away with a thoughtful nod. "Yup. Baby wants to play _right this instant_. They don't wanna wait."

"None of us want to wait, baby-girl. Trust me." Finn laughed. "It'll be worth it in the end, though. Now go to bed, alright? Sweet dreams."

"Good night Papá. Good night Daddy. Good night baby." Shara sang out as they tucked her in and closed the lights.

Out in the hall, Finn draped his arms over Poe's shoulders and smiled. "Thanks for dealing with that. I owe you big time."

"Hell yeah, you do." Poe rested his hands on Finn's waist and rocked him back and forth. A sly smirk spread across his face and he looked up at Finn with an eyebrow cocked. "I think I know a few ways you can pay me back."

"That a fact?" Finn laughed, letting Poe pull him into their bedroom. "I take it there's no room for negotiation."

"I'll tell you in the morning." As he said that Poe pushed Finn up against the bedroom door and set about unbuttoning his shirt, laughing when Finn peppered his face with playful little pecks. While they kissed Finn fumbled for the doorknob and flipped the latch, feeling Poe smile against his lips. A couple things they both loved about this apartment: the walls were soundproofed and their door actually locked. That would probably come in handy over the next several years.

 

\------------

                                           

A little under four months later Poe was stretched out in the backseat of the car, whistling and absently rubbing his sides while he waited in the parking lot for Finn to pack up the winter carnival at Shara's preschool. Poe was supposed to be at work, but earlier today Leia had booted him out of his office, told him to go home before his water wound up breaking during a meeting. 

He had been planning to finish the work week at least, but after a few minutes of back-and-forth Leia put her foot down and flat out ordered him to leave. Poe had known she was serious when she started using what Rey commonly referred to as _The General Voice_. 

It wasn't all that bad, though. When Poe went back to his office to collect his things he discovered that a few of the other lieutenants had wordlessly left a teddybear dressed in a flight suit on his desk, along with a curt note that said he'd better get his ass back to work as soon as the kid popped out. The send-off was sort of heartwarming in a gruff, military way.

After the first go around most of the higher-ups seemed to have gotten their head wrapped around the idea of having a pregnant guy on their staff, which was nice. That was partly because over the past couple years Poe had worked his butt off for them, but looking back on it, it was pretty well worth it. The baby kicked and Poe snorted, a smile spreading across his face. Yup, it was definitely worth it.

"I dunno what Leia's so worried about. I can totally work. You're not due for another few days, after all. When I was pregnant with your sister I stayed on up to the last possible second." Poe laughed. "I guess she just didn't want to deal with me griping about how much everything hurt again..."

Turns out the baby bump was a good listener. Poe could carry on a conversation for ages, and the kid wouldn't so much as complain. Talk about your captive audience. But after awhile the clatter of a carpool walking up to the van beside Poe pulled him away from his thoughts. He quieted down, knowing that this was a pretty compromising position to be found in. When he was lying on his back he was basically a turtle that somebody had flipped onto its shell. Yeah, he wouldn't be moving any time soon.

It wasn't so bad when the kids laughing and shrieking outside drowned out the grown-up talk, but then the car door slammed shut and their childish chatter was muffled behind it. The parent's conversation, on the other hand, became crystal clear. And when he heard what they were talking about Poe wished that that wasn't the case.

"Oh, so he married one of those? God, I didn't know." A lady said in a hushed voice. Poe had no clue why she was whispering. There was nobody else in the parking lot. Maybe it was just for dramatic effect. "Did you know?"  

 "Even _I_ didn't suspect for awhile. How can you tell, these days? Lana!" the other woman snapped suddenly, giving the car door a sharp rap. Her voice had the grating timbre of a trumpet, self-important and brassy. "Not now! Mommy's talking to Tessa! Honestly..."

Poe hushed up and shrunk down into his seat, listening to the conversation outside of his window, the sickly sweet falseness of the words like cheap Valentines Day chocolate. He was pretty sure that the louder one was named Chelsea, or something along those lines. Don't get him wrong, he got along with most of the parents, but her, well, he didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with her. 

"Look at the hips and feet, that's how I check. But a guy like Finn? Why would he settle for that?" Tessa asked. 

"Probably caught him in a pregnancy scare. _That_ kind of person's always after some kind of attention." Chelsea scoffed. Poe sunk further into his seat, thankful that the van had tinted windows so that he was hidden from sight. Oh, so they were talking about him. Well that was just swell.

"They are, aren't they? Their daughter isn't quite right, either. She's the one looking out the window in the class picture. Frizzy haired, gap-toothed little thing." 

"Oh, her? Lana said she was a bit funny. Not all  _there_ , you know? She doesn't go along with what the rest of the class is doing. She just gets up and wanders off. In the middle of  _class_. They should have her evaluated, they really should..." 

If Poe could have he would have jumped up and objected. They could gossip all they wanted about him, but like hell he would let anybody talk smack about his girl. So what if she was a little bit scatterbrained? It wasn't her fault that she was easily bored. 

One time Poe had come to drop off Shara's umbrella during his lunch break and had wound up waiting in the cubby area, hoping not to call too much attention to himself. The class was in the middle of story time and poor Shara was obviously over it, squirming and wriggling as the teacher droned on about green eggs and ham.

 Finally she hopped up and trotted over to the book shelf, grabbing a copy of  _If You Give A Pig A Pancake_  and sitting down in a beanbag chair in the corner with a satisfied smile on her face. Poe didn't see what the trouble was, but from the way they talked you'd think Shara had tried to stab the teacher with safety scissors or had thrown a chair through a window. 

"...It's just that I don't think it's  _responsible_ , raising a kid when you have that many issues of your own. It's just going to pass on all of them. They're having another one, you know. _It_  waddled out here when it thought no one was looking." Chelsea hissed, imagining that she was being confidential.

When he heard that Poe's lips curled in a snarl.  _It_. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was when people decided he wasn't a person. 

"Wait, pregnant? Are you sure she just hasn't gotten fat?" 

"Not if the way Finn was pawing at that gut meant anything. Honestly, who does _that_ in public?"

She sounded disgusted, for Christ's sake. As though it was a crime for Finn to even touch his own husband. Poe looked down at his baby bump and scowled, cupping his hands over it in an attempt to cover the kid's ears. The little guy didn't have to hear any of this bullshit. 

"I don't get it. How'd she even get pregnant? Has she had the op, d'you think?"

"Sure looked like it, but God, I don't know. _Sick_ , that's what it is. I don't want to think about it. Why anyone would choose to do something like that is beyond me..." 

"A cry for help, that's what it is. An overdramatic cry for help. But I feel sorry for her, honestly." Tessa added quickly. "All that fuss, and in the end she realises she wants to be a mother after all. It's kind of sad, I think."

"You're giving it too much credit. Just overcomplicating things, that's what it's doing. You know, a _responsible_ person would go see a doctor, try and get their head on straight. What a freak. It's too bad Finn got dragged down with it. But never mind all that. Say, do you have that cupcake recipe on you? The coconut icing you made was  _wonderful_..." 

They prattled on for a bit, then they sped off in Chelsea's mopar, disregarding a stop sign and swerving around the corner just as an old woman started to cross. Poe worked his way up onto his elbows, watching through the window with narrowed eyes.

"Y'know, a  _responsible_  person wouldn't've tried to run over someone's granny." he grumbled, finally managing to push himself upright. The baby kicked in protest and Poe pressed a hand to his stomach. "Easy, buddy. It's okay..." he soothed. But his fingers were trembling against the stretched skin. "Trust me, it's okay."

It was okay, honestly. He didn't care what they had to say about him. What had been said about Shara though, that's what worried him. Because even he had to admit that his kid had a few quirks. 

Shara was friendly, sure, but she only had a couple friends, and she was bright, but it wasn't uncommon for Poe to send her down the hall to grab something and find her sitting on the floor ten minutes later, staring at a rainbow on the wall with her task completely forgotten. Maybe she was a bit strange, but she could read as well as a five year old, and she seemed happy, so he and Finn figured they could let her be.

"We're good parents, right? I mean we're trying our best." Poe closed his eyes and shook his head. "I didn't mean to make things hard for you kids. I never meant for this to happen, your sister getting picked on 'cause of me. I never stopped to think about how having me as a father could fuck you guys over, too." he said softly. "I'm sorry, buddy. I really am."

Poe knew people had it out for him. That was a given. There were a lot of hateful, angry people out there who just wanted him dead. But what had his kids done, other than simply exist? But then, that's all Poe was doing, too.  

"I just wanted a family. That's all your dad and I ever wanted. He grew up in foster care and your  _Abuela_  died when I was a kid. You and Shara, you're like a dream come true for us. Your dad thinks so, too. Your dad, he's..." Poe shook his head and laughed a little. "He's something else. You'll understand when you meet him. God, he just lights up the fucking room when he walks in. He really does."

Poe tilted his head back, feeling like every cruel word he'd ever heard was hanging over his head in a grey cloud. He could ignore it when it was all aimed his way, sure, but his kids were off-limits. 

"Well, aside from that dig at your sister, what those two had to say was pretty standard. _What? A guy's pregnant? Holy shit it's the end of the world get to the bunker!_ I get it from a lot of people, but for a bunch of different reasons. Some people are just nasty. There's also some scared people, a few confused ones, and every once in awhile you meet somebody who thinks I'm a curiosity. Then there's the ones who don't really know what to think, so they listen to what other people have to say. Usually it's nothing good, though." Suddenly Poe felt a painful tugging in his gut and let out a little grunt. "Ouch. Thanks for the input, buddy..."

Poe rubbed his stomach while the baby squirmed, resting against the door with a sigh when things settled down in there. Just a few more days of this. "I'm not broken or fucked up for wanting to do this. right?" he asked. "I don't think it really changes anything about me being a guy and all. I mean, I dunno what it's like for other people, but for me it's just like: Wow, my body can do this? Well that's pretty damn neat. It's just hard when everybody feels the need to put in their two cents about me being pregnant. That's probably the hardest part about all this." 

That, and the thought that just maybe, he would pass on some type of glitch to the kids he wanted more than anything to protect. He was so afraid that he was at the root of their every flaw, every weakness, that something inside of him really was wrong, that maybe all those people were right when they said any family of his would be defective. It was a ridiculous, unreasonable fear, which is exactly why it terrified him so much. 

When he came to that conclusion Poe ran his fingers through his hair and scowled. Well, that was a pretty depressing note to end on. Then he cast a glance around the minivan and smirked. "No, wait, I know what's worse. The fact that I have to drive around in this clunker instead of on my bike 'cause you throw my balance off so much. That's a pain. You're worth it, though." Poe assured the baby with a friendly little pat. "After all, we've dealt with bullshit from other people before. We can do it again. Right, buddy?" The baby kicked and Poe winced. "Ouch. Real mature, ya parasite..." 

Poe smiled and closed his eyes, giving the baby a reassuring squeeze. He didn't mean to doze off, but a second later he was asleep, still cradling his stomach in his arms. In his defence carrying a baby around 24/7 takes a lot out of a person. 

  

\----------

 

 Poe was woken a half hour later by Finn, who was trying to balance a cupcake on his stomach without him noticing. When Finn saw that he was awake he kissed Poe's belly and gave him an apologetic smile. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. Got ditched and had to do the clean up on my own. I thought you were gonna go home."

"I was, then the baby decided I needed a nap." Poe smiled and extended his hands out to Finn. "Help me up? Wait, where's Shara?"

"Went to the museum with Rey and Jess. She didn't want to wake you." After scrutinizing Poe's expression for a little bit Finn smoothed down Poe's bedhead and gave him a soft smile. Poe only saw that smile when Finn was about to ask whether or not he was okay, all while knowing that the answer was no. "Hey, you doing okay?"

"Called it." Poe mumbled under his breath. Finn blinked and Poe kissed him on the cheek. "Nothing. I'll tell you when we get home." he yawned as he climbed into the driver's seat, Finn hopping in shotgun and helping Poe with his seatbelt. They drove a couple blocks, then Poe decided he may as well start the ball rolling now. "Hey, just outta curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know a mom with a dream catcher tattoo, drives a moped, real hipster vibe going? That ringing any bells?"

"Chelsea. That'll be Chelsea." Finn screwed up his face and kicked his feet up onto the dashboard. "She's a complete jerk. That alternative kumbaya crap's all to cover up the fact that she and her husband are a couple of fundamentalist prudes." 

"I take it you two don't get along." Poe laughed.

"I guess you could say that." Finn snorted and slung an arm over the back of Poe's seat, sneaking a kiss at a red light. "Made a complete mess of the bake sale, by the way. Convinced half the committee to go all Whole Foods on it. She was selling these dinky little vegan macarons at five bucks a pop. What four year old has that type of money? 'Course her little clique was all over them. Not so much the actual kids, though. They started to use them as hockey pucks. She was real sore about that." Finn started flipping through the radio stations with a satisfied grin on his face. "Shara scored a goal. It was pretty great."

Poe laughed, remembering how much Finn had griped after coming back from that parent committee meeting a couple weeks before. Chelsea was organising the bake sale, and she had "recommended" there be a focus on preferably vegan, low-sugar treats that would teach kids the importance of respecting the earth and their bodies. A few recipes she suggested were raw pecan bars and gluten-free cupcakes with mint avocado icing. 

 Simply put, a handful of parents, Finn included, did not agree with that. So in a brilliant display of passive aggression he had turned up to the bake sale with a chocolate-chip-cookie-brownie-cake, grinning at Chelsea as though daring her to protest. After all, the whole "healthy" thing had only been a recommendation. 

The icing-slathered cake looked even better when it was sitting beside organic coconut yogurt pops and wobbly tofu cheesecake. The first tray disappeared in about five minutes. Most of it had been gobbled up by the kids, but a few slices had been furtively purchased by parents while Chelsea's back was turned. Finn was setting himself up for some pretty intense preschool drama. In all honesty Poe looked forward to watching that play out.

When they got home Finn dragged Poe into the bedroom and got him into his pyjamas, rubbing his belly and kissing his collarbone. Somehow they wound up making out under the covers for a while, which was a bit of a contortionist act for Finn at this point. Poe just didn't understand why Finn found a beached whale desirable, but he wasn't about to complain. 

"Time out, sweetheart." Poe breathed after awhile. He flopped onto his back and grinned, watching Finn shimmy out of his shirt and kick off his pants. He nudged Poe's legs apart and settled between them, cupping the baby bump lovingly in his hands. 

"So what's up?" Finn asked, propping up his chin on Poe's stomach and smiling at him.

"What? Oh, right..." Poe shrugged, fiddling with the edge of a pillowcase. "Just something I overheard, kinda grating on the brain." Poe squirmed a bit, feeling heat creep into his cheeks. "Shara's okay, right? I mean, she's not falling behind her classmates or anything, right?" 

"Her teacher hasn't said anything. Why? Did something happen?" When he saw the worried look in Finn's eyes Poe shrank down into the mattress, cursing himself for bringing this up.

"I dunno. It's nothing. I was just worried that maybe it'd be my fault if she was..." Poe hesitated, tongue and stomach twisting as he tried to get the word out. "Different."

"Why would you think that?" Suddenly a lightbulb went on in Finn's head and his expression darkened. "Oh, that jackass has some fucking explaining to do. What the hell did Chelsea say to you?" Finn demanded. Poe gulped, trying to backtrack. 

"She wasn't talking to me. I just overheard her while I was waiting for you. Ease up there, sweetheart. It's not worth causing a scene. We just have to deal with her for one year." Poe tried to insist. Finn on his part, didn't quite get it. Why wasn't Poe fuming? He wasn't the kind of guy to take anything sitting down. Why was he letting this slide?

"It's not just one year. She and her lackeys are gonna teach their kids the same thing, aren't they? Then those kids are gonna think the way their parents do, then they're gonna pass that on to other kids, and by the end of it even more people are thinking the wrong thing." Finn argued. Poe groaned and pressed the heels of his hands over his face. Why the fuck had he said anything? He should've anticipated this reaction. Finn could be so reckless, so stubborn, when it came to the people he loved. Without going into details, God help whoever gets between Finn and his family. "I can't let them do this to you, Poe." 

"Finn, just  _listen_ , goddammit." And now he was crying. Well, that was just great. Thanks, hormones. But at least the tears got Finn's attention. "It's not just you and me anymore, got that? We've got other people to think about, here." 

Poe took Finn's hand and pressed it to his stomach, relieved when he felt the tension flow out of Finn's arm, the stretched skin a concrete reminder of what was to come. "I don't want to drag our kids around on a crusade or anything. I just..." Poe rubbed his eyes and shrugged. "I just want us to be normal, Finn." he said helplessly. "I don't need to be reminded that that's not the case, alright? Ain't exactly a morale booster."  

"But..." Finn started to protest, but the words died on his lips. Might be best to just listen for now.

"It's not worth it." Poe said softly. "It could be so much worse, trust me. We're all here, Finn. We're all alive. That's what matters, not what people think of us. I don't want this baby to be born knowing that there're people who hate 'em. I know you want to keep our kids safe, Finn. And I also know that you want to change the way people see me." Poe said slowly. "But that's not going to protect them. Not right now, at least."

For awhile Finn just stared at Poe, his expression a mosaic of rage and hurt and confusion. Then it all crumbled to pieces and he pressed his face into Poe's neck with a sad little huff of a sigh, curling up against him in an apologetic ball.

Here's the thing. If something happened to somebody he cared about, Finn wanted to fix it himself. Every fight was worth it. Every slight, sneer, and cruel whisper was nothing but a challenge. They made his need to run away disappear, steeled his nerves and forced him to be strong. When face to face with adversity he became a storybook knight, a fearless dragon slayer, just like the ones in Shara's fairytales. 

All he wanted was to keep them safe. All he wanted was to protect them. But maybe protecting people sometimes meant staying at their side, not running off and punishing what was hurting them. Maybe it meant propping them up for awhile so that one day they'd be able to face it themselves. Turns out that was so much harder than just being a hero.

"I'm sorry." Finn mumbled. "I promise I won't do anything stupid."

"You're the best." Poe sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of Finn's head. Finn shrugged, but when he looked up at Poe again he was smiling a little bit.

"But can I make a friendly suggestion next parent's meeting? We organise a Family Day. Nothing fancy, just a couple stories, maybe some crafts. That way the kids learn that some families have two moms, some families have a mom and a dad, some families have one mom or one dad, and some families have two dads and one of them can have kids which is perfectly normal, _Chelsea_. Not to name names or anything." he added quickly, grinning when Poe laughed. "Would that be okay?"

"Alright, that's fine by me. Man, you can be pretty devious." Poe rolled his eyes, running his fingers through Finn's close-cropped hair. "But seriously, you'd think she'd have gotten used to stuff like this by now. C'mon, lady, you're in New York for crying out loud. You're bound to meet some weird people..." 

"You're not weird." Finn insisted all of a sudden, voice a little bit sharp. Poe raised an eyebrow and Finn rolled his eyes. "Well, you are, but this isn't one of the reasons why. You're weird 'cause you know all the words to Fergalicious. You're weird 'cause you build accurate WWll fighters out of gingerbread. You're not weird for wanting to be a dad. Hey, you want food?" he asked suddenly. 

"Food would be great right now." Poe agreed. Seems like Finn had had enough of the boo-hooing. So had Poe, if he was being honest. Besides, he really was starving, now that he was thinking about it. "Can I have a milkshake? And maybe some egg rolls and Cheetos and hey, y'know those cinnamon sticks from Cinnabon? With extra icing?"

"How about we go out and I'll buy you something from each restaurant we pass?" Finn offered, grabbing Poe's wrists and pulling him upright. "That way I don't have to keep running up and down those stairs like a damn delivery boy."

"I'm too pregnant to walk." Poe complained. He cracked a grin while Finn tugged him to his feet. "Fine. But you're carrying the bags."

"And you're carrying the kid." Finn gave Poe a kiss and threw some clothes at him. "Seems like a fair trade to me."

Poe rolled his eyes and snorted while he squeezed into his jeans. Yeah, that was completely fair.

 

\------------

 

The next night Poe was wandering down the hall, gnawing on a candy bar and waiting for the baby to stop kicking him. The little guy was a real night owl. So was their other kid, if the light peeking out from under Shara's door was to be trusted.

"Go back to bed, kiddo. It's way past your bedtime..." Poe poked his head into Shara's bedroom, glancing at the clock on the wall and whistling. Finn was still out on his shift, so it was just Poe and Shara tonight. Then he noticed what Shara was doing and his brow creased. She was sitting at the little plastic table in the middle of her bedroom, puzzling over bits of crumpled paper she'd spread out on the sticker-plastered tabletop. "What happened to your drawing?" he asked.

"William tore it up." Shara said quietly, nudging one of the fragments into place. "After school, he tore it up." 

"Why?" 

"He said boys can't have babies and I hit 'im so he tore it up." Shara mumbled. "But then Emma and Max said the same thing. But I  _know_  I'm right." Shara insisted. "You're having a baby, right?"

"I am. It's just that some people think that I can't." Poe eased himself down onto the edge of the bed, watching Shara piece the shreds of the picture back together. It was a drawing of the three of them, all holding hands, and she had drawn Poe with a big round tummy. Poe figured that that was the source of the conflict. 

"But you can have a baby. I don't..." When she looked up again her face was crinkled with worry. "Is our family bad, Papá?" 

"No, no of course not."

"It's not normal, though." Shara sighed regretfully. Poe opened his arm and she went straight into them, burying her face in his chest. "It's not like everybody else's."

"What not normal about it?" Poe asked gently. "We love each other. That's what makes a family." He wished that he could pull Shara into his lap, but the circumstances being what they were he had to make do with wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pressing her to his side. "There isn't a right or wrong way to be a family. It can be really really big, or it can be really little. It can have all sorts of people in it, too. None of that matters so long as they all love each other, because love's what makes it work. Listen, you know I love you, right? And that Dad loves you?"

"Yeah."

"And you love Dad, right?"

"Yup." Shara confirmed.

"And you love me?" Poe's voice wavered a bit when he said that. He thought of Shara's torn up drawing, of the words he'd heard the day before, of every little bit of hatred Shara had come in contact with since her world had ballooned outwards from just her and her parents. That cocoon Poe and Finn had weaved for her had done a pretty good job of keeping all of it out, if only for a little while. What bothered him was the fact that most of the vehemence that had slipped through could point back to him, what was wrong with him. 

But either Shara didn't know that, or she didn't really care. Or, and Poe prayed that this was the case, maybe she didn't think anything was wrong with him in the first place.

"I love you." Shara smiled and wrapped her arms around Poe's stomach as well as she could. Then she nuzzled her face against it and sighed. "And baby. I love baby, too." But something occurred to her and she looked up at Poe with a worried expression. "Will people say mean things to baby?"

"Yeah, some people might." Poe admitted. He tilted Shara's face up, smiling at her until she grinned bach. "The trick is not to listen to them. You have to be strong, kiddo. Got that? You have to show the baby that they don't have to be afraid. Can you do that for me and Dad?"

"I can." Shara agreed, her little chest puffed up with pride.

 "Thanks, kiddo. It means a lot to us." Poe ruffled her hair and kissed her on the cheek, grinning when she giggled. "We'll tape up the drawing in the morning. That sound good? Right now you have to go to bed."

"Can you read me another story?" she asked wheedlingly. Poe sighed and nodded, mostly because he didn't really feel like getting up quite yet. "Yaay!"

"Just one story." he reminded her as she ran off to rummage through her toy box. "I'm thinking we should read the dictionary. What about you?"

" _La Princesa y el Sapo._ The movie one." Shara announced, holding up the book and giving Poe a gap-toothed grin. "Please?"

"But I read that to you last night." he pointed out as Shara cuddled up next to him. And a dozen other nights before that, too. He could recite the book by heart at this point. "Don't you want to read something new?"

"No. I like this one best 'cause you and Daddy look like Tiana and Naveen."

"Are you calling us frogs? Guess that makes you a tadpole." Poe teased.

"I'm not a tadpole! Read the story!"

"But frogs can't read." Poe protested, laughing when Shara made a face at him. "Alright, alright. I guess I can try. Now let's see. Oh, I got it. _Ribbit, ribbit, croak croak_..." 

"Papá!"

"Just kidding. Alright, here we go. For real this time, I swear.  _Había una vez en Nueva Orleans..."_

 

\-----------

 

Finn finally turned up a few hours later, arm in a sling, sheepish grin on his lips, and a box of cupcakes under his arm. He'd called ahead of time from the back of an ambulance and told Poe not to wait up for him, but as usual he hadn't listened. So at one in the morning Poe came out of the bathroom to find his other half in the kitchen, bleary-eyed and staring blankly at a lukewarm mug of tea. But he perked up when Poe came up beside him and gave his good shoulder a squeeze.

"I hate to say it sweetheart, but you're a dumbass." Poe sighed, accepting Finn's lazy, sleep-deprived kiss.

"I can't even argue. You doing okay?" Finn yawned, nuzzling his head under Poe's chin. That had become his typical greeting as the due date drew closer. He was always worried that he had missed something.

"Yep. But I can't say the same for you, from the looks of it." Smiling, Poe leant in to press a kiss to the bruise on Finn's forehead. As was typical for Finn, he somehow managed to get hurt on his last day on the job, holding up a collapsing doorway for just a bit too long. He always had to be the hero, this one. "How's the arm?"

"How d'you think?" Finn grumbled. Poe started to laugh, then his stomach seized up and he grabbed the counter, groaning. That was enough to wake Finn up. "Hey, hey..." He put down his mug and pulled Poe into his arms. "Contractions? When'd they start?"

"Calm down. Pretty sure it's just Braxton Hicks. Real thing should start soon, though." Poe grunted, relaxing a bit as the wave passed. "A day or two, I'd say. Don't worry about it." 

"Whenever you say "don't worry about it" I immediately start to worry about it." Finn pointed out. "I just hope we won't have to take the stairs this time."

"And that it's not snowing." Poe added with a grin. "And that you don't decide to run off and be a hero in the middle of it. C'mon, man. I was in labour and you decided it was a good idea to barrel headfirst into a car accident."

"You're still sore about that? C'mon, you can't blame me for doing my job..." Finn started to protest, but all it took was one look from Poe for Finn to shut his mouth and nod. "Alright. No running off."

"You promise?" Poe asked, extending his little finger to Finn.

"I promise." Finn laughed, hooking his pinky with Poe's and drawing him in a bit closer, his tummy snug between them. "I'm not gonna run off."

Satisfied, Poe rested his head on Finn's shoulder and closed his eyes with a happy nod. That was all he needed to hear. 

**Author's Note:**

> I went to pick up my little cousin from school and the bake sale they were having killed me. Like bitch i came here for goddamned Walmart cupcakes and all you had to offer was an artisanally crafted bread pudding. I'm very salty about that. Although not nearly as salty as the bread pudding (I have no idea).


End file.
